Page 41

EPILOGUE

Taylor

Christmas

T aylor stomped the snow off his boots as he and Alice walked up to the cabin’s front door. As much as he had hoped for a quiet cabin, her family was already here and waiting for them.

“Are you ready?”

With her hand on the doorknob, she stilled. “Yeah.” She turned to him with a seductive look that shot straight to his dick.

After a year with her, he could read just about every emotion on her face, and this particular one was a personal favorite, one followed by lots of orgasms.

But sadly, they were headed into a room of her family ready for Christmas Eve.

“Thank you for coming with me. At least we’ll have the cabin to ourselves for one night,” she said with a wag of her eyebrows.

“Of course we are spending Christmas together. There is no need to thank me. My motives were purely selfish.”

“Let’s do this,” she said, reaching up on her toes for a quick kiss before pushing open the door.

“Oh good, you guys are finally here. We were just about to start The Muppets Christmas Carol .”

“You guys missed the other ones!” her niece added.

“Well, thank you for saving the best one for us,” said Alice.

“I think by the time it’s over, the lasagna should be ready,” said her mother.

“You sit down and watch. I’ll run our bags upstairs,” Taylor said softly in her ear after hanging her coat up in the closet.

“Thanks,” she said to him as she allowed herself to be pulled in by her niece.

Alice went and sat on the couch as Taylor took their bags up to her room. He set hers down by her side of the bed and crossed the room to drop his off.

A lot of memories were embedded in this room. This is where it all started a year ago. They’d had such a good year, and things just kept getting better. Alice had moved in with him in the spring. There had been arguments and compromises alike. There was no clothes chair, but he turned an eye to the mess on her side of the closet. But there had been moments more wonderful that he could have expected like when Alice met his mother. They would get along, but they seemed to be kindred spirits.

He also remembered the day when he waited in the doctor’s office with her and when she came out with a grin.

“Looks like I have ADHD,” she had said on her way to the car.

While she didn’t need the official diagnosis, it did seem to help convince her she wasn’t a lazy fuck-up. He was glad because her confidence grew every day when she was able to live her life at a pace that suited her.

His attention was pulled when a soft knock sounded at the open door.

“Coach,” he said in greeting.

“How was your flight?”

Since Coach Wagner found out Taylor was with Alice, things between them had changed. It wasn’t apparent on the ice or in the locker room, but Taylor and Coach had gotten close. It was like he was able to finally see Alice for who she was, and he was thankful to Taylor for helping them do that.

All that credit went to Alice. All he did was love her, the easiest thing he’d ever done.

“Good. I was happy to have good weather. Not a repeat of last year.”

“Although that snowstorm seemed to work out pretty well for the both of you,” Coach said.

“Very true.”

“Speaking of that, do you have the ring?”

Taylor nodded, fighting the nerves in his gut.

“Good. Do you know when you are going to do it?”

“I was thinking tomorrow, before we all meet downstairs for presents.”

“That sounds good, son,” Coach said as he clasped him on the back. “I can’t wait to have you in the family.”

Both of the men made their way down to the living room, where the family was all stretched out, watching the movie. The kids were curled up on the floors with blankets and pillows.

Alice and her sister were on the couch while her mom was busy in the kitchen. Taylor went and picked up her legs and sat next to her, settling her legs on his lap.

“What are your feelings on The Muppet Christmas Carol ?” asked one of the seven-year-old girls on the floor.

“Just that it’s the best Christmas movie ever,” he answered with a grin.

The young girl seemed to be evaluating him. “Good.” She shrugged and turned back to the movie.

After the movie and a nice dinner, they were getting ready for bed.

“What are they doing?” he asked as he stepped out on the snow-covered porch, slipping in behind Alice and gliding his arms around her waist.

“They’re feeding the reindeers,” Alice said like it was completely normal.

“I get leaving cookies for the big guy, but feeding the reindeers is new to me.” The two small girls continue to dance happily around the yard, throwing handfuls of... “What is that? Oats?”

“What else would reindeer eat?”

“You’re right . . . I’m the foolish one.”

A small laugh rumbled inside of Alice as she pulled his arms tighter around her.

“Done!” called the girls before they hopped up onto the porch and made their way inside.

Alice and Taylor followed them in.

“If you girls want Santa to come, you better get to bed,” said Alice’s mom.

“And no trying to catch him this year,” said Isabelle with a raised eyebrow. “Let’s go brush our teeth.”

After they cleared out of the room, Alice and Taylor made their way up to bed. Alice headed into the bathroom to change and came back in the same Christmas pj’s she’d worn last year, and he had slipped into his.

“Well, this feels familiar, doesn’t it?” she said, getting into bed.

“It does, to think we started last year just like this.”

“Brought another old friend,” she said, reaching into her bag.

Unsure of what she was talking about, he smiled as she pulled out the wonderful, colorful unicorn horn dildo.

“Hello, old friend,” he said, taking it from her.

“What do you say?”

“Marry me,” he said.

He wasn’t supposed to be saying it right now. He wasn’t supposed to be saying it when he was holding a Technicolor dildo instead of a ring, but that didn’t seem to matter.

“What?”

He sat the dildo down between them and got up to get the ring out of his bag. “I’d planned on doing this in the morning, but I can’t wait another night,” he said as he turned to her, showing her the ring. “Please, Alice, will you marry me?”

Her mouth fell open, and she just stared at him.

His heart raced. She was going to say yes, wasn’t she?

“Taylor,” she gasped, still seemingly unable to process what was happening.

“What do you say, Rainbow? Make me the happiest man alive?”

“Yes!” She flung herself into his arms. “I love you so much!”

“I love you, too,” he said as he slid them both into the bed. “Here.” He slid the ring onto her finger. “It’s a perfect fit.”

“Just like us,” she said, admiring the ring.

“Now, what do you say we get reacquainted with our old friend?” he said as he pulled the dildo out from under the blankets.

“I’d say you’re a genius.”

“Get over here,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. His lips found hers as he held her soft body to his.

He was home. He was home anywhere she was.

This past year had been amazing. Alice had blossomed into the most amazing woman he’d ever known. She’d always been an amazing artist, but with confidence, she was able to run a successful business, and with a PA to keep her on track, she was unstoppable. She amazed him every day, and now she was going to marry him. He would spend his whole life taking care of her, and he couldn’t wait.

“A lot of things have changed this year,” he said between kisses down her neck. “But one thing hasn’t changed.”

“What’s that?” she asked as she ran his hands through his hair.

He slid his hand through her purple hair. “You’re still my rainbow girl.”

“Always,” she said, and she pulled his face to hers for a kiss.

“Always.”

“Now, let’s get this game going,” he said, whipping out the rainbow toy.

Thank you so much for reading Taylor.

If you are curious to find out what is going on with Sven, never fear, you will find out very soon.

Sven the fourth book in the Glendale Magic Series comes out in February 25